Always You
by GleeFiction
Summary: Sometimes he wondered why it took him so long to realise that all he ever needed was right there beside him. It was always her.


There was just something about her.

Quinn Fabray.

He knew it from the first time he'd seen her, that no matter how lost he was, she would always find him, and that no matter where he went, she'd never really be far away; he didn't know whether it was because she was his first love, or because at one point he had wanted her to be his last, but there was always _something_ between them that he couldn't shake.

There was just something about her, Quinn Fabray, that had always made perfect sense to him.

* * *

It's his first day back, and apart from their hug as he entered the choir room and announced his return to McKinley, they haven't interacted at all, that is until she comes up to him in the hallway. She opens with a quip about Mercedes' new boyfriend, and Sam knows her well enough to see that she wants something from him. If there's one thing to say for Quinn Fabray, it's that she's determined as hell. He cuts to the chase of the conversation; she wants him to help her raise Beth.

Anyone else would have been borderline offended by her request, stating that she only wants him back for that reason, but when she mentions last year and how she didn't appreciate him, he knows it's her own warped way of apologising for everything that happened between them, despite her insane request, he sees the honesty in her eyes and knows that she's truly sorry.

He denies her request in the nicest way he can, throwing in a joke about her 'rich white girl problems'. She's upset by his words, which kills him, but he needs her to know that she has a lot more life to live outside of high school, and he hopes that when he tells her to 'hold on sixteen', she knows that he wants her to give herself a break sometimes.

He still likes Mercedes, and he's not ready to give up on her yet, but he wants Quinn to know that he cares deeply about her, and he always will. After all, Sam knows that, even if it's just as friends, she was right when she said they were perfect together.

* * *

To say he's disappointed when Rory and the rest of the New Directions decline his request to help Coach Sylvester at the homeless shelter is an understatement. He's furious with them, they talk a lot about how they always strive to help others, but in actuality they won't give up a few hours of their time to help people that actually need it. None of them have any idea what he and his family went through the year before, so when he pulls into the parking lot and sees Quinn stood, waiting for him, his face lights up before walking over to her.

"What are you doing here?" He asks, ecstatic.

"I've been thinking a lot about what you said in the auditorium, about how hard this time of year is for some people, and it just didn't sit right with me to not give back." She pauses. "I just kept thinking about if you and your family hadn't got back on your feet after last year, about how that might be Stevie and Stacey in there tonight. It's not fair." She sounds genuinely heartbroken at the thought of his family being in their previous position again, it warms Sam's heart to know that somebody else actually understands. He reaches over and gives Quinn a quick hug before Sue screams at them to get inside and start helping.

As they stand serving, he wants to tell her about how much her previous speech had meant to him, but he figures that this isn't the right place to do so, and the way that she's smiling at him, he thinks she probably already knows. Instead, he waits until Sue leaves for a few moments so he can ask her how she's been, because from what he's heard, it's not great. He tells her that she seems good to him, because as far as he can tell, she's the same Quinn she's always been, at least where it really counts. She flashes him a sweet smile and explains how she's focusing on the future, which Sam thinks is a really good idea. He tells her that she deserves good things, because she really does.

Sam sometimes thinks that the rest of the glee club is insane for not reminding her how special she is all the time, and how amazing she can make other people feel simply by being herself.

When she tells him that she's trying, sam thinks it's the most beautiful and honest thing she's ever said.

A couple of weeks later, she stands at the front of the choir room and sings 'Never Can Say Goodbye', it's the best she's ever sounded. After her performance, she announces that she got into Yale.

Yale.

Sam nearly jumps in the air with pride. All she's ever wanted was to leave Lima, and now she's going to an Ivy League school, one that Sam knows she's completely fallen in love with. The group walks over and hugs her, an air of pride in the room which she completely deserves. He makes a note in the back of his head to congratulate her privately later, but he gets too distracted by Mercedes.

It's not until a few days later when Sam's sitting in the hallway leaning against a the lockers when she stops to talk to him.

"Hey." She greets him sweetly. "What are you still doing here?" She says, referring to the fact that school finished a few hours ago.

"Mercedes drama." He mumbles with a wave of his hand. Quinn sighs in acknowledgment as she sat down next to him.

"Been there." She says quietly in response.

"You dated Mercedes?" Sam asks with a goofy look on his face.

"Shut up!" She laughs. "You know what I mean!" She was referring to the small dramatic episode she and Mercedes had been a part of before they became friends in their sophomore year.

"I know." He sighs, forgetting his sadness with Mercedes choosing Shane over him as he remembers that he's forgotten to congratulate Quinn on her big news.

"So, Miss Fabray." He begins, causing Quinn to shift her body so she was facing him fully. "How does it feel to know that you will be attending Yale next year?" His voice light as he spoke. Quinn dropped her head into her hands and laughed, looking up with a huge smile on her face.

"I have to say, Mr Evans," she mimics him from before, "it's unreal." There's a still a tone of disbelief in her words, laced with intense joy. It's the happiest Sam has ever seen her.

"I always knew you could do it, Q." He says tenderly. She leans forward and drops her forehead to his for a second, saying:

"Thank you for believing in me, Sam."

"Always." His smile bigger than ever.

She moves to stand on her feet, extending her hand to Sam to help him up. They walk to the parking lot arm in arm.

* * *

His eyes were on the ceiling, counting the marks in the obviously old paint, wondering where everyone else was. Sure, the 'God Squad' meetings weren't his favourite, but he did like that he got to spend time with Mercedes, and he really did enjoy the shared faith part of it a lot more than he thought he would. In the distance, he hears the light clicks of boots, knowing who was coming in.

"Hey, Quinn." He says quietly, his eyes still on the ceiling.

"Hey." She replies sweetly in response, pulling a chair out and sitting down.

When he only heard the sound of one chair, he drew her eyes to her. "Where's Teen Jesus?"

"He's sick." She replies easily. "Where's Mercedes?" She asks.

"She's running late. She had this thing to go to before the meeting." He pauses between words, forgetting exactly where Mercedes had said she was going. "She said we should just start without her."

Quinn snorts. "Start without her? There's only the two of us. What are we supposed to do? Analyse our favourite bible verses?" Her tone was light and jokey.

His eyes were back on the ceiling, he spoke softly, almost a whisper. "I thank my God every time I think of you."

"You know my favourite bible verse?" Quinn asks, causing him to look at her, matching Sam's tone of voice that he used when recounting the verse. He nods in response to her question.

"I know your favourite hymn, too." Quinn raises her eyebrow and he begins to hum the tune to her favourite hymn.

"I remember the way you used to smile when we'd sing that one in church." His smile was reminiscent of when they attended the same church the year before.

"How do you remember all that?" Quinn laughs out, a small shocked tone in her voice.

Sam shrugs in response. "The important things are always worth remembering." He jokes with a smile, sticking his tongue out at her. Quinn laughs and they fell silent again.

"Besides," Sam continues in a mumbled tone, looking at her. "I could probably write a book on all things Quinn Fabray." Their eyes locked for a second, causing Quinn's breath to catch in her throat. Before she can answer, however, Mercedes walks in.

"Where's Joe?" She asks.

The pair snapped their eyes away from each other, towards the other girl.

"He's sick." They say in unison, causing a small smile to grace Quinn's face. The two share a look before giving their full attention back to Mercedes.

* * *

It was a Friday night. They were sat in Mercedes' bedroom - she'd walked into glee club earlier that day and told her closest friends that she was having a gathering at her house, deciding to keep it small and inviting only Tina, Kurt, Sam, and Quinn - Sam only went so he could spend some more time with Mercedes, and everyone else knew that too, but nobody mentioned anything, it was hard enough to see him staring at her all the time without having to address it awkwardly. Her parents weren't at home, but the teens still opted to sit in Mercedes' rather large bedroom, a place Quinn was highly familiar with.

The group had gotten Puck to score them a few bottles of wine, a drink Sam thought was disgusting, but did the intended job.

"You have what!?" Kurt exclaims, causing everyone else to wince.

"It's not mine! It's my Mom's from her prom!" Mercedes says, shaking her head with a laugh, sat next to Kurt on her floor.

"Come on, 'Cedes! You have to show us!" Tina begs the other girl.

She sighs, standing up. "Fine." Kurt and Tina squeals in excitement, also standing up. "But I swear to God if you spill anything on it…"

"Mercedes, it's a tiara! It'll wipe up with a cloth!" Kurt states with a brush of his wrist, signalling it was no big deal.

"You guys wanna see?" Tina asks Sam and Quinn, who had just sat and watched the previous conversation from their spot on the floor. They shake their heads in response, Tina smiles an 'ok' and joined Mercedes and Kurt.

"How did the conversation change so quickly?" Sam asks seriously. "We were talking about taco bell, like, 3 minutes ago!" He exclaims with a laugh, the wine obviously affecting him.

"Tina said that Brittany had made Lord Tubbington a crown of taco shells." Quinn states casually, causing them both to laugh, knowing that Tina was not lying.

"I think Britt has too much time on her hands." Sam says cooly.

"You're telling me." Quinn agrees, putting her wine down and turning to Sam. "Do you remember 'Fondue For Two?'"

He laughs. "Remember it? She tried to get me to co-host a special episode!" Sam says dramatically.

Quinn bursts into laughter then, certain that the wine was extra-strong, because she feels a lot more drunk than she probably appears to Sam. Soon, Sam begins to laugh hysterically too. He tries to turn to Quinn, but instead he accidentally kicks her wine all over Mercedes' white rug that they're sat on.

It goes silent.

Quinn's eyes lock with Sam's, both of their expressions echoing the words: 'Oh shit.'

They instantly shot up and tried to clean the red mark that had just been left. Quinn running around trying to find something to scrub the stain with in Mercedes' room, not wanting to get something from anywhere else, in fear of drawing attention to herself. Unable to find anything, she whips her cardigan off and uses it to dab the stain, it having no effect at all on the rug, she sighs and looks at Sam, who's trying desperately to figure out if he can flip the rug somehow. He looks at Quinn, who gets his idea wordlessly, and runs over to help him.

"I'll lift and you twist." He says, going to the end of the bed that covered the rug. Quinn nods and waits for him to lift.

Suddenly, the bed was half up in the air, and Quinn was trying her hardest to shift the square rug around.

"Hurry up, Q!" He huffs out, lifting the bed obviously causing him difficulty.

"Sorry!" She says quietly but quickly. "The rug is made of really heavy material!"

Sam stops in his frustration and looks at her, obviously annoyed, a pregnant pause in the air.

"The rug is heavy!?" He exclaims loudly, breaking the silence, but not too loud for anyone outside to hear. Quinn stand still and looks at him, before a small smile creeps on to her lips and laughter began to fall. Sam helps her twist the rug with his foot, finally placing the bed down softly when the stain was out of sight.

Sam soon resumes his place next to Quinn on the floor as his panic set in.

"What was the point in all of that when she's going to be able to smell wine in her room for months!" Quinn rolls her eyes, this is typical Sam, even worse when he had a few drinks in his system.

"Would you relax? She's not going to know! She's not going to think anybody's dumb enough to do what we just did." She says, the second part more to herself than Sam.

"Of course she'll know! Drunk is the highest form of dumb!" He carries on whining. Quinn leans across, grabs his face, and plants a kiss on his lips. She's certain that sober Quinn would not have done that.

It's a firm kiss, quick, but not as quick as it probably should have been, she had to force herself to pull away after a few seconds, not wanting to freak Sam out.

After a few seconds, Sam looks at her and says:

"Did you kiss me just to shut me up?"

"Yes." She states simply. "And it was working." She shoots him a playful look.

"Damn… I should talk more often then." Sam says, a goofy tone in his voice. Quinn responds by nudging his side, a smile on her face.

They tell Mercedes about the rug a few days later, after Quinn had realised that it was just drunk panic that had caused her and Sam to desperately try to hide the rug. Mercedes just laughed and called them both idiots.

Neither Sam or Quinn mentioned their brief kiss, both pretending to forget it. Quinn does note, however, that she never saw Sam's longing eyes on Mercedes again.

* * *

They get paired together to dance at regionals, Sam instantly apologising to Quinn for his self-proclaimed 'horrific co-ordination'. She laughs it off and they begin to learn the steps with the rest of the group in the auditorium.

"Have you given anymore thought to Finn and Rachel's wedding?" He asks her, his eyes on the floor, looking at his feet as he tries to dance.

"No." She replies simply. "Keep your head up." She says pulling his head up gently with a smile.

"Do you really think it's that bad?" He asks her, concentrating as much as he could on the dancing. "I mean, they're in love, that has to count for something, right?" He shrugs his shoulders and looks at her.

"Love does not make a marriage work, Sam. It requires a lot more effort than they know." Her voice was stern but not annoyed, she just wished that everyone would leave her alone about the whole thing.

"Sorry, I forgot that you'd been married before." He jokes with her, causing a little laugh to escape her lips.

"You're right," She sighs. "but I have been in relationships before -"

"I think I remember one of your exes - he was blond, right?" Sam cuts her off, a thoughtful look on his face, joking with her, she shakes her head and laughs in response.

"I think so…" She replies quietly with a smile. "I don't know, it's just -" She pauses, bringing her eyes up to Sam cautiously. "It's hard enough to be in a relationship with someone at this age, let alone married." She pauses again, trying to find the words she wanted. She begins again slowly. "I know what it's like to make a stupid decision and hurt the person you love more than anything, a decision that you wish you could take back everyday. I just don't want them to make the same mistake." Her words almost a whisper towards the end of her sentence.

He stares into her hazel eyes that always transfixed him.

"And who was it that you regret hurting the most?" He asks, just wanting to hear her say him, even though he had no idea why.

"I think you know." She whispers out, almost inaudible, but Sam hears it, he's almost forgot that there was anyone else in the room with them until Mr Schuester tells everyone that rehearsal for the day is finished. Sam and Quinn pull apart and collect their things from the back of the stage, walking out together but neither of them saying a word until they're nearly at the parking lot.

"I'm not telling you how to live your life, Q." Sam says as he stops to look her. "But they're some of your best friends, and I think you'll end up regretting it if you don't go." He shrugs with an honest look on his face before walking to his car.

His dance moves aren't perfect, but they win regionals, Rachel and Finn announcing their plans to get married after the competition, just before they're about to go on stage, due to the Dave Karofsky incident. Sam's eyes find Quinn biting her lip as they tell the group.

'Life's too short.' He's been thinking those words a lot recently when looking at her, he's not sure if he wants to know why.

After they change out of their costumes, he walks over to her.

"Are you gonna go?" He asks hopefully,

She nods. "Yeah. You were right, it isn't about me, it's about them." An appreciative smile on her lips. "I just have to head to my place to get my bridesmaid's dress - see you there?"

"See you there." He affirms her words.

An hour later, everyone is sat waiting for Quinn at the courthouse where Rachel and Finn are getting married, feeling incredibly nervous.

"Berry, it looks like Q isn't coming - the last text she sent you was like 20 minutes ago. Can we just get on with it? I wanna party." Santana says with a total lack of compassion in her voice, causing everyone to roll their eyes.

"No, no, she said she'd be here." Rachel insists, her nerves evident in her voice.

"Look, Rachel -" Kurt begins before he was cut off by a loud cry in the corner of the room.

"Oh my God!" Mercedes exclaims in horror, her phone at her ear.

Sam doesn't remember much after that, he just knows that he fills his car with as many people as it can hold and he begins towards the hospital, not caring about the speed limit. Mercedes is in his front seat, talking to Judy, Quinn's mom, on the phone, giving her support since she doesn't have anyone else. The two had grown close after Judy had heard of Mercedes' kindness to Quinn whilst she was pregnant. Sam doesn't hear much of what's being said though, he has this strange muffled sensation going on in his ears, as if nothing that's happening is real.

When they get to the hospital, Sam and the other glee club members pool into the waiting room, all in their wedding attire, but none of them caring. They're there for what feels like hours, days, to Sam, when the doctor came out and told Judy the news, who began to cry. The group assumed the worst.

"She's alive."

Sam grips on to Kurt's shirt, who is stood next to him, and thanks his God that she's ok. The group starts to leave one by one, until only Sam, Mercedes, and Judy are left. When they notice the time, Mercedes tells Sam they better get going, as he was her ride. He nods and goes over to Judy after Mercedes hugs her.

"It was very nice of you to stay, Samuel. I'll be sure to tell Quinnie when she wakes up." She says with a tired look in her eyes.

"I'll be back tomorrow." He says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh, no, that's fine, Samuel, I'm sure that I'll be fine to do that by myself." She says with a thankful tone in her voice.

"I'll be back tomorrow." He says, more stern this time, Judy just nods her head in response, certain by the look in his eye that she won't be able to dissuade him.

True to his word, Sam goes back the next day, taking Mercedes with him, when he goes into the room where Quinn is it takes almost everything he has not to cry, and even though they're not together romantically, he grabs Mercedes' hand for support as they walk over to where Quinn's lying. She's connected to a few machines that beat rhythmically, Sam and Mercedes sit down next to each other as Judy sits on the other side of the bed.

It takes four days for Quinn to wake up, Sam and Mercedes, alongside Judy, go everyday to see her. They're not together, and Sam can feel from the attitude in the car that they won't be again, but he's glad that Mercedes is his friend, he really needs one with everything going on.

When she wakes up, he cries a little bit, not too obviously though, as he doesn't want to upset her, even though he knows she can see it - Quinn would probably be offended if he didn't shed a few tears after something like this, she'd never admit it, but she does love being the centre of attention, and Sam knows that. He jokes about it when she wakes up, actually, saying that she only crashed the car for the flowers and attention, Judy looks horrified and offended, but when Quinn begins to laugh, she realises that Sam was only kidding. It's the first time she laughs since it happened.

She's not in a wheelchair permanently, just for a few days out of the hospital, from that point on she has to use crutches to get around as her legs aren't strong enough to hold her weight. When she lets him, Sam takes her to physical therapy.

* * *

Nationals are in the morning. Sam lies in bed, looking up, thinking back to where he was the same time the year before. Homeless, lonely, and in love with Mercedes. His life is so different in comparison. His family is financial stable, and he's living with Finn and Kurt, two of his really good friends. He's not in love with Mercedes anymore, instead she's one of his best friends, along with Quinn, who now walks fully, and is dancing even better than Sam, though that's not that hard, he thinks. It's been an amazing year.

The New Directions perform only a few hours later, for the last time ever, at least for the most of them, and Sam would be lying if he said he didn't have a lump in the back of his throat just thinking about it. Everything feels different, but he still loves every second of it. When she asks him about it after the Trebbletones number, Sam tells Quinn that if the judges could have seen her a few months ago on those crutches compared to the way she was dancing on that stage, they would worship her as some kind of God. She laughs and tells him that he's an idiot. He doesn't mind it at all when she calls him that.

They win. The New Directions of William McKinley High School actually win nationals. It's the happiest he's ever been, and looking around, he can tell the same goes for everyone else, too. It's absolute euphoria, and when they get back to school, everyone treats them like gods. Sam keeps waiting to wake up. It's bitter sweet, though, because he only has a few days left with the majority of his friends. He can't believe that they're all going to be gone soon.

Carole and Burt let Finn and Kurt host a Nationals/Pre-Graduation party for all of the glee members, a way of celebrating their win and a way to properly say goodbye. Everyone in the house is having a blast, singing songs they sung over the past few years in glee club, reminiscing over whose version of 'Defying Gravity' was better - Kurt keeps insisting that he blew the note on purpose, something the majority of the glee club won't accept. People are crying, too - well, Tina's crying. Sam finds Quinn in the backyard, sat on the grass with her back against the stone wall of the house and her head looking up to the sky.

"Hey." Sam says calmly as he sits down next to her.

"Hi." She answers, not taking her eyes from the sky.

"What are you doing?" He asks her, shooting a look up to the stars she seems to be analysing.

"Trying to make my problems seem smaller." She answers him with a smile, making Sam recount the time he had first spoken to her and nearly alienated himself completely from her. They sit in silence for a while, both looking up at the sky.

"Do you actually know any of the constellations?" She asks, finally turning her head to look at him.

He smiles. "No." A small laugh dropped from his lips. "I just pretended to when we met to try and woo you." He admits.

"Sam!" She laughs out and smacks his arm. "All this time I thought you were this expert astronomer!"

"So it worked?" He asks playfully, getting himself another smack on the arm. Quinn then interlocked her arm with his, and put her head on his shoulder, she sighed.

"What's getting you down?" He questions.

"It's never going to be the same, is it?" She asks with a sigh, looking at Sam.

"No." He answers her honestly. "But why would you want it to be?" She shoots him a confused look, so he carries on. "I mean, Quinn, you've not had the best high school experience." He says honestly.

"Yeah, but I have you." She pauses. "And I have the glee club, and I'm finally happy here - I never thought I would, but I'm really going to miss it." Tears are threatening to spill from her eyes at this point, so she looks away from Sam.

"I know." He sighs.

"I mean, where else is Brittany going to be threatened with being shot out of a cannon?" Quinn laughs out loudly, causing Sam to giggle. "And where else am I going to be able to dress up like a zombie and perform a half time show?"

"Where else are you going to meet someone as intense as Rachel Berry?" Sam exclaims, causing him and Quinn to burst into laughter, only made more intense by Rachel's loud voice from inside the house saying: "Did someone just say my name?" in a concerned tone.

Looking back up at the night sky, Sam sighs when he and Quinn finish laughing. "We really have had our fun, haven't we?"

Quinn nods, looking at Sam, the vulnerable look in her eyes.

"I'm just scared that I'm not going to meet anyone like you guys." There's an incredibly tender tone to her voice, it nearly brakes Sam's heart.

"You're not, Q, you're going to meet even better people." He's looking into her eyes as he says this.

"I just don't think that's possible."

"Well I do." He adds confidently. "And plus, it's not like you're ever going to be able to get rid of any of us at this point. I think you might have to take a restraining order out against Rachel at some point." He laughs as he said this and so does she.

After a while in silence, her arm still linked in his, and her head still on his shoulder, she says, still looking into the sky:

"You're one of my best friends, Sam."

He smiles. "Yeah, and you're one of mine."

He's in the audience watching everyone graduate, he wishes that he could be up there with them. He feels a shift when they all throw their caps in the air, like the passing of a baton. Every person stood on that stage made it, and he couldn't be more proud of his friends. Quinn gets her mom to take a photo of her, Sam, and Mercedes in an empty hallway after all the graduates leave the auditorium. She gives him a copy of the photo in a frame the last time he sees her before she moves. When he gets home, he finds written on the back of the photo in Quinn's neat writing:

_Thanks for the adventure, Ken. I'll miss you more than words can say._

_I love you, _

_ Barbie._

He laughs and has to wipe his tears away. He can't believe she's gone.

* * *

School starts again, and Sam can already feel the difference. Sure, he has Tina, Blaine, Brittany, and Artie, but the rest of the glee club are all sophomores, and even though he gets along with all of them, he can't help but miss everyone else.

He hasn't spoken to Quinn much since she's been at Yale, the odd conversation here and there, but he knows from her social media that she's met some cool people. He's really doing his best to give her the space she needs, even if it means he feels slightly empty.

He starts dating Brittany after she gets dumped by Santana, he's not expecting it to be amazing, he's just doing it to feel less alone, and he knows that she is too, but she's too nice to say. He really does like Brittany, though, just more as friends.

Tina comes over to him in glee rehearsal one day and starts quizzing him in front of everyone.

"Have you stopped talking to Quinn?" Her tone is borderline hostile.

"No." He answers half honestly, because he hasn't stopped talking to her completely, it's just been a few weeks since they've had a proper conversation.

"Well you need to talk to her more, then, because she just texted me and asked how you are." Tina pauses. "She misses you, you know?" That feels like dagger in his chest.

He can feel the whole glee club looking and listening to his and Tina's conversation.

"I'm trying to give her space." It comes out really quietly and he's really embarrassed.

"Well, it sounds like all she wants is to talk to you."

He calls Quinn that night and promises to never stop talking to her again.

* * *

"Are you seriously studying?"

Quinn jolts her head up to see Sam standing in the doorway of the classroom she's in. She shrugs in response with a smile on her lips.

"Come on, Q, it's thanksgiving!" He exclaims with a smile, walking closer to the other blonde.

"The classes at Yale allow no rest for the wicked, my friend." Sam smiles at her light tone, sitting down next to her. "From what I've heard, though, you're the one that should be studying."

Sam knows her words aren't meant to be hurtful, nor are they useless, she has a genuine look of concern and curiosity on her face.

"Yeah, I guess so." He mumbles, looking down before Quinn quickly begins to talk again.

"What happened, Sam? I mean, to paraphrase yourself," she pauses "You're pretty, but you aren't dumb." Sam laughs and meets her eyes with a small shake of his head.

"I don't know, honestly…" He trails off, a sad tone in his voice. "After everyone left it just… changed." He sighs. "And I didn't really think anybody was that invested in me anymore."

"What about Brittany?"

Sam laughs, as if what he's about to say is the most obvious thing in the world.

"Brittany's great, and all, but, I don't know, I wouldn't exactly call our relationship a love for the ages."

"No?" She questions, the famous kink in her eyebrow that turns Sam's stomach upside down graces her face.

"No." He replies quietly. "And besides, you know you'll always be my number one blonde." Sam adds, using his foot to nudge hers slightly in a playful way, causing Quinn to laugh.

They sit for a while, Quinn retuning to her work, Sam pulling out a textbook and trying to make notes, obviously struggling. Quinn looks up, watching the way his face turned in confusion.

"Need a hand?" She asks, almost instinctively, Sam replies with a smile and a small nod.

"You're always offering to help me." He states sweetly.

"Yeah, well, someone has to take the hard task every now and again right?" She says with a laugh and he just rolls his eyes.

A few hours later, Sam's packing his things away into his schoolbag, Quinn had gone just a few minutes before. It was astounding to him how easy his work had been when she was there to help him.

Easy.

That was the word that stuck out to him when he thought about Quinn. No interaction with her was awkward, or weird, or stiff. Things had always just seemed to flow whenever she was around.

He closed his textbook and put it away, going to do the same to his notebook before seeing something written on the clean page next to the one with his notes on.

_I believe in you._

Written so beautifully in her clear handwriting, Sam saw the note that Quinn had left for him. Carefully tearing her note off of the page, and folding it nicely in an attempt to not ruin the message from Quinn, he put it in his pocket. He sighed, and went on with his day, making sure when he got home to pin the note on his cork board.

* * *

He resits his SATS, and actually gets a pretty good score, his GPA also rises significantly, which he attributes all of to Tina and Quinn's tutoring, Quinn doing her part over video call. He's really happy to see her face again.

He applies for a few schools in the North East, seeing as that is where everyone else seems to be ending up, and he has a good chance of getting partial scholarships there.

Once he has the nod of approval from Quinn that his applications are good enough, he sends them off and begins waiting for an answer.

* * *

She's in the library studying for a big test she has when her phone goes off, the buzz loud in the silent library. She reaches to get it out of her bag and it goes off again. Her heart stops when she sees the message on the screen.

**_Sam:_**

**_Someone has a gun in the school._**

She doesn't know what to do. She stares at the screen for a few seconds before panic sets in her mind. She stands, gaining a few looks from the people around her, and shoves her things rapidly into her bag before walking out of the library as she texted him back.

**_Quinn:_**

**_What do you mean? Sam - are you ok?_**

There was a short pause that felt like eternity as she waits for a reply from him, finally, he answers.

**_Sam:_**

**_I'm in the choir room with the rest of the glee club. I'm freaking out. It's so dark I can't see._**

**_Quinn:_**

**_Is Mr. Schue there?_**

**_Sam:_**

**_Yeah. He keeps telling everyone to be quiet. I need to talk to you - can I call you?_**

Without another thought, Quinn gets Sam's number up and phones him. He answers without a single ring.

"Sam? What's happening? Please tell me this is a joke!" She whispers in a rushed tone, standing outside the library.

"No, it's not." He replies quietly, his voice evident of tears.

"Sam, I , I -" She pauses in panic. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Nothing, I just- I need you to listen to me." She whispers an acknowledgment and he carries on.

"I need you to know how much you mean to me. Since I first saw you I knew that you were so different." He had begins to cry at this point, so does Quinn. "You were the first girl that made me feel special - the only girl that's made me feel special - that still makes me feel special."

She hears a bang in the background.

"Sam what's happening?" No answer. "Sam - please answer me! Sam!" She's basically screaming down the phone at this point.

"I have to go." He replies after forever. "I love you."

Before she has the chance to reply, the line's dead.

Quinn spends the next few hours on the phone to her mother, asking what was happening, as she's the only available person still living in Lima. After an hour or so, her mother has to go, and Quinn is left with the wait.

He loves her.

He loves her, and she didn't have the chance to tell him that she loves him too. Of course she loves him, he's Sam. It's really the only thing that made sense to her. Nothing could comfort her, she was utterly hysterical.

It's four o'clock when her phone rings. Quinn reaches for it and answers mindlessly, expecting her mother with an update.

"Hello." She cries out weakly.

"Quinn, are you ok?" The voice she had been waiting to hear rings out.

"Sam!?" She exclaims, still emotional.

"Hi." He says, letting out a deep sigh filled with emotion, his tears threatening to spill again.

"You have no idea how worried I've been! Are you ok?" She asks seriously, her tears evident.

"I'm ok - I'm sorry I freaked you out. I just needed to hear your voice for some reason."

She realises how much she really needs to hear his too.

* * *

She comes home before regionals to see him. He picks her up from the airport, and the second she sees him, she drops her bags and jumps into his arms, nearly knocking Sam over. Before he can even process what's happening, she kisses him.

It's heated and passionate and says everything that she's wanted to say to him for months. Sam can feel her tongue tracing his bottom lip for entrance. It's everything he's ever wanted. They break apart, both having the biggest smiles on their faces, looking into each others eyes. They're only pulled out of their trance when they hear on old woman mumble something like: "looks like someone's happy to be home." The pair laugh and walks to Sam's car hand in hand.

They decide to not waste anymore time. He's been in love with her for as long as he can remember, even in his Mercedes stage, he always felt something incredible for Quinn. When she tells him that she loves him too, he nearly breaks her jaw he kisses her so hard. She laughs and kisses him back with the same enthusiasm.

After everything that's happened, with her accident and the school shooting, Quinn begins to tell him, she needs to him to know that this is exactly where she wants to be, with him, it's where she's always wanted to be. It's the most beautiful thing he's ever heard.

She's in the crowd, watching him preform at regionals. He looks so happy. When the New Directions win, Mr Schue and Miss Pillsbury get married in the choir room. Quinn stands next to Sam and watches the ceremony, holding his hand behind their backs.

They hang back in the choir room until everyone has left, Quinn wanting to have some more time alone with him.

"You were amazing up there." She says as she takes his face into her hands lightly.

"That's because you were in the audience." He says, lightly stroking her arms with his fingers.

"Really? Because I saw you guys perform at sectionals." She jokes with him, causing him to shake his head before resting it against her forehead.

"Why did I ever think I was meant to be anywhere but with you?" She asks, love evident in her voice.

"I think you always knew." He whispers, and she knows he's probably right, because there was always something deep inside of her that had screamed for Sam Evans. He was all she wanted. He leans down and kisses her softly, full of love and adoration.

A few minutes later Blaine walks in, stating that he had forgotten his bowtie, when he sees them. He clear his throat, and they jump apart, trying to look anywhere but at each other.

"Oh please." He scoffs, picking up his bowtie and turning toward the door. "We all knew it was inevitable!" He shouts over his shoulder with a smile on his face and the wave of his hand.

The blondes smile and go back to their previous position.

* * *

"Q!" He exclaims as she answers his video call. It's 3am - he'd just gotten back from Blaine's house where he'd been all day when he saw two envelopes addressed to him on the desk in his room.

"Sam, it's three o'clock in the morning, whatever you called me for it better be good." She states, evidently not impressed with her boyfriends late night calling. She's wearing a tired expression on her face, sat at her desk with her legs up, resting her chin on them, her hair a total mess. Usually he'd be sorry to phone her at this time, but he has some big news.

"I got in." He says simply.

"What?" She questions him, rubbing her eyes.

"I got in." She sees the envelopes he's holding up and her mood instantly changes.

"What!" She exclaims excitedly. "How many did you get into?" She asks.

"Only two, but they're both giving me partial scholarships!" His smile only widens when his girlfriend puts her hand over her mouth in disbelief.

"I'm so proud of you, Sam." Each of her words said with a tender honesty, her eyes filling with tears slightly.

"Couldn't have done it without you, Baby." He says cooly, throwing a wink at her to make her laugh.

They stay up for the next half an hour talking about the schools he's got accepted into before Sam has to go to bed. When she gets back into bed, Quinn's too excited to sleep.

* * *

Blaine has plans to go up to New York for a week to see Kurt and offers Sam to go with him. Sam agrees, but only because he needs to go and see the colleges that he's gotten into. When he tells Quinn of his plans to stay with Kurt and Rachel, and take Blaine around the campuses with him, she's upset.

"I thought maybe I could go with you." She admits dejectedly, making a cold and hurt feeling wash over Sam.

"I said I'd go with Blaine because he's going up there anyway, Q, and plus,' he pauses, looking at Quinn on his screen, who's playing with the bottom on her skirt. "I only promised to go around the colleges with him because I can stay with Kurt and Rachel for free." That was honest, he didn't have any money as the place he worked at only payed minimum wage and all of his money went to his family in Kentucky - plus, he didn't want to ask Burt and Carole for the money, they were doing more than enough for him by giving him a roof over his head. "I was planning on visiting you."

"You could stay with me." The dejected tone in her voice was back, Sam's eyes light up, however.

"Stay with you? Like - _stay_ with you?" He blurts out.

"Get your head out of the gutter, Sam!" She giggles. "I just meant, it's been so long since I've seen you and I thought you would want to see me, too." Her head is down and her voice quiet. It wasn't like Quinn to show that she was upset or vulnerable very often, so Sam knows that she was really down about this.

"Of course I want to see you, Quinn, but I just - I," He sighs. "I didn't want you to think that I was only asking to stay with you for - you know - that." His hands are making some odd gestures as he spoke, signalling his awkwardness.

"Sam," she begins. "if I thought you only cared about sex, I know you wouldn't be dating me." He snorts a laugh. "I just miss you - a lot."

"I miss you too, and I'm sorry for being so awkward about all of this. Of course I'll come and stay with you."

"Only if you want to." She teases him.

"Hmmm," he pretends to think. "stay with my breathtakingly gorgeous girlfriend that I'm madly in love with, or be constantly berated by Rachel and Kurt for a spontaneous version of 'Don't Stop Believin' - which to choose?" He taps his fingers on his chin as a complex look graces his face, causing her to laugh. He drops his hand and pays full attention to her, looking at her on his screen. "Of course I want to stay with you."

They make plans for how he was going to get to Connecticut after that, deciding that he would go to New York with Blaine, and then use Rachel's train pass, that Rachel herself had yet to use once, to get to New Haven.

Just over a week later, Sam's pulling his bag off of the train as it pulls into the station. He walks off of the platform and toward the exit, finding Quinn stood outside waiting for him. When she spots him she begins to walk towards him, he pulls her into a hug when they meet.

"Hi." She whispers against his shoulder. Sam pulls back to look at her, her arms still around him.

"Hi." He replies, putting his hands on her face and giving her a small kiss.

"You haven't seen me in over a month and that's the kiss you give me?" She asks, pouting her bottom lip out. Sam laughs and gives her another quick kiss.

"I would recreate the one that you gave me in the airport in Lima, but I think that it bordered on public indecency." He laughs as he says this, Quinn rolls her eyes and smiles. "I'll give you a real one later." He promises before taking her hand and beginning to walk.

They're quiet for a lot of the walk to Quinn's dorm, just enjoying each others company.

"It's beautiful here. I can see why you love it so much." Sam says quietly. Quinn loves it even more now that he's here, she thinks.

It doesn't take long to get to Quinn's place on campus. She opens the door and Sam sees two girls sitting on a sofa, watching TV. His breath hitches in his throat, he was scared to meet her roommates - sure, Quinn was the coolest girl he'd ever met, but with the exception of her, he was scared that the Yale students would be stuck up around him. Sam wasn't unconfident, but he knows that nothing about him screamed 'Ivy League.'

"Hi, guys." Quinn says calmly as she walks in. "This is Sam." She steps to the side and lets her roommates look at him.

"Hey." He says, his voice shaking. "What are y'all watching?" He asks the girls, who mumble something about _Project Runway_ repeats. Quinn looks up at him with a small laugh. 'Did he just say Y'all? He must be nervous.' She thinks to herself, his southern accent slipping out when his nerves got the best of him.

"This one's my room." She says, pointing to the room across from the front door. "You wanna put your stuff down?" Sam just nods in response and walks to go and put his bag down. Once he enters the room, he hears Quinn's roommates talking.

"Oh my God, Quinn!" One of the girls exclaims. "He said 'y'all'! That's so hot!"

"Would you calm down?" The other girl says, sounding like Quinn's mother. "He seems lovely, Q."

Sam chuckles in response, maybe Yale wasn't too stuck up after all. A few seconds after the conversation, Quinn walks into her room and joins Sam, who's looking around the room. It's incredibly neat and organised, yet still so welcoming.

"Your roommates seem nice." He says as he feels her come up next to him, still looking around her room.

"They like you." Quinn laughs out.

"I heard." He turns to look at her. "So, what are we going to do? I mean - our first campus tour is two days away." He asks her, wondering if there was anything cool to do in New Haven, but he doesn't mind what they did together really, he just wanted to see her.

"I was thinking that tomorrow we could go into town and I could show you around a bit?" She answers him, to which Sam just nods. "But as for right now…" she steps closer to him "I was thinking you could give me that kiss you promised?" Her eyes are on his and she has a smirk on her lips.

Sam's smile as she said this turned from sweet to determined. Slowly, he brings his hands to her face, stroking the apple of her cheek with his thumb.

"God, I love you." He whispers, looking into her eyes. He closes the gap between them, capturing her lips with his. He kisses her slowly before tracing his tongue along her bottom lip, when she opens her mouth and allows him access, the mood changing. The kiss is a mix of passion, love, and the fact that he hasn't seen her in over a month. After a few minutes he begins kissing down her neck, eliciting a moan from Quinn. When they brake apart, Sam has a huge smile on his face, matching Quinn's, who actually looks more dazed than anything.

"Was that ok?" He asks her, a devious smile on his lips.

"You, Mr Evans, are definitely worth the wait." She whispers playfully, leaning forward to kiss him again quickly before walking back into the living room of her dorm.

Sam knows this week is going to be fun.

Later that night, they're lying on her bed watching a movie, Quinn's head on his chest. She shifts slightly and Sam realises that she's asleep. Looking down at her, he moves a strand of her long hair from her face. He liked her hair like this the most, not that he didn't like her shorter hair, but she'd had this length hair when they'd met, so it was always going to be his favourite. He knew that Quinn preferred his hair short, too, so when it had started to grow out after his junior year, he'd had to cut and kept it the same length since, he changed the style of his hair though, he wasn't into the Bieber cut anymore. Quinn thought he looked 'very handsome' with his hair styled upwards, so he guessed it was a good call.

He looks around the room and sees a picture of the two of them from when they had performed 'Lucky' - Tina had taken the photo because she thought that they looked 'perfect together'. They were both staring at each other, Quinn playing his guitar, if he could have seen then where he is know, he would have pinched himself.

Quinn wakes up when the TV gets a bit too loud.

"You're a good pillow." She laughs out, her eyes still shut.

"Really?" He asks, Quinn moving her head to rest her chin on his chest, her eyes tired. "I would have thought my muscles were too rock solid to lie on comfortably." He puffs out his chest jokingly as he says this.

Quinn rolls her eyes. "Shut up, Sam."

It goes quiet for a second before Sam asks her:

"Your roommates, they're like your best friends?" Wanting to know more about her Yale life.

"You're my best friend." She says as if it were the most obvious thing in the whole world, pulling him closer to her.

He doesn't like the first college that they visit, he feels that it's too 'preppy' for him (Sam's own words), so the next day when they visit the only other college he's been accepted to, the pressure is on.

They walk around for a while, taking in the campus and getting a look at the dorms, they're even invited into an art class, which Quinn knows is something Sam's interested in. After a few hours of walking around, they went and had some lunch.

"This is the one." Sam states, his mouth half full with his food.

"You like it?" Quinn asks after scolding him for talking with his mouth full, to which he responds by poking his tongue out at her.

"I really do." She knows he's telling the truth by the smile on his face.

They have sex for the first time that night, Sam's not nervous, but he wants Quinn to be sure - she's not as experienced as he is (after dating Brittany for a few months, he'd say he's pretty well versed on the topic), so when she tells him that she's been ready for a while, he gives her a sweet smile and proceeds. It's everything he could have imagined it to be and more, he has a feeling in the pit of his stomach telling him that she's the only one he wants to do this with for the rest of his life, he doesn't tell Quinn that in so many words, but he's sure she knows, because he can tell that she feels the same.

After they finish, Sam is lay with his head on her stomach, his arms wrapped around her, planting soft kisses up the side and front of her stomach, Quinn's hands in his hair. He moves his head to rest his chin on her stomach so he can look at her.

"You've never looked prettier to me." He says honestly, because right now she looks perfect to him.

"You're only saying that because you can see my boobs." Quinn laughs out. He glances at them and smirks.

"They're just an added bonus." She laughs and calls him a dork. "But you've still never looked prettier to me."

"But I'm all sweaty, and my hair is a mess!" She exclaims, not believing him.

"It suits you." She smiles and he slides up so that he's level with her face. "Seriously, though, Quinn, I've been imagining what just happened since I was 16, and even though I always knew it'd be the best thing I'd ever done, I never imagined you'd look this beautiful."

"You're perfect." She says simply in response.

She kisses him and wraps her arms around him, ready to fall asleep.

* * *

"Now that we've finally graduated, are you gonna stop being so secretive and tell us where you're going?" Tina begs Sam as they walk out of the auditorium. Once they get outside Sam pauses, turning to Tina and Blaine and answering their questions.

"The University of Connecticut."

Before Tina has a chance to press him further, Sam walks away towards his family, only then did they realise that Quinn was stood with the rest of the Evans'. Tina and Blaine turn to each other with a knowing look and a smile before separating to join their respective families.

* * *

He turns his head to look at her, lying on her front, her bare back exposed to him, hair cascaded everywhere, sunlight perfectly seeping into her bedroom. He doesn't know how long he's been awake, but he honestly doesn't care, he wants to do this for the rest of his life. Quinn moves her head a little, signalling to Sam that she's awake.

"Are you staring at my ass?" She mumbles, just loud enough for him to hear before turning to look at him, lying on her side. He moves so that he can see her face more clearly. Sam lets out a laugh and allows his hand move up her side.

As they lay together, in total silence, Sam thinks of how he loves her, staring into her sunlit eyes, wondering why he had wasted so many years of his life without her; he really has no explanation for it at all.

She is perfect. This is perfect. Being with her is absolute heaven, and it's all that's ever made sense to him.

**Let me know what you think with a review! - GleeFiction**


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